2006-10-10
Howard on Vietnam
Finally we have an Australian politician saying what someone should have said long ago:
It's worth recalling just some of the philo-communism that was once quite common in Australia in the 1950s and '60s:
[snip]
* All those who did not simply oppose Australia's commitment in Vietnam but who actively supported the other side and fed the delusion that Ho Chi Minh was some sort of Jeffersonian Democrat intent on spreading liberty in Asia.
[snip]
Until recent times, it had become almost de rigueur in intellectual circles to regard Australian history as little more than a litany of sexism, racism and class warfare.
[snip]
Early this year I called for a root and branch renewal of Australian history in our schools
Please Mr Howard - hurry up! You've been in office for 10 years already, and you may only have 1 year left. What's taken so long? We desperately need to set the record straight on Vietnam. That it was a tragedy we abandoned a beautiful ally to communist slavery. That we were on the right side of the ideological battle of the Cold War.
I'm thinking I should write my own history book, based on the various ideological struggles that existed in the world that ended up with ours (rational, humanist, non-subjugating government) becoming dominant. Basically the "history of freedom". I'm not really interested in Australian history, except for where it participated in the ideological struggles.
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It's worth recalling just some of the philo-communism that was once quite common in Australia in the 1950s and '60s:
[snip]
* All those who did not simply oppose Australia's commitment in Vietnam but who actively supported the other side and fed the delusion that Ho Chi Minh was some sort of Jeffersonian Democrat intent on spreading liberty in Asia.
[snip]
Until recent times, it had become almost de rigueur in intellectual circles to regard Australian history as little more than a litany of sexism, racism and class warfare.
[snip]
Early this year I called for a root and branch renewal of Australian history in our schools
Please Mr Howard - hurry up! You've been in office for 10 years already, and you may only have 1 year left. What's taken so long? We desperately need to set the record straight on Vietnam. That it was a tragedy we abandoned a beautiful ally to communist slavery. That we were on the right side of the ideological battle of the Cold War.
I'm thinking I should write my own history book, based on the various ideological struggles that existed in the world that ended up with ours (rational, humanist, non-subjugating government) becoming dominant. Basically the "history of freedom". I'm not really interested in Australian history, except for where it participated in the ideological struggles.
# posted by Paul Edwards @ 22:10 
